Battle of Berlin: A Boy's Perspective
by Awesome.German
Summary: A young sniper in the Germans' famed Waffen SS, Horst must fight for his life and the lives of his men during the last great fight of the last great war. Rated T for war violence and language.
1. Skirmish

**Outskirts of Berlin, Germany  
April 1st, 1945  
06:00 AM  
**

"_Gott in Himmel_!" A young SS boy named Horst complained as he picked up the body of another young boy killed in his platoon's last skirmish with the Red Army. "This stench is disgusting!" He dropped the limp body in the anti-tank ditch made by the Russians before his battalion took the position. A German King Tiger Tank rolled over the dead bodies filling the ditch. Suddenly the tank stopped. _Why did they stop?_ Horst asked himself. The tank commander popped out of the tank and strolled first over to the commandant of Horst's company, spoke to him, then walked over to the wondering boy. Immediately after coming to attention and saluting the officer with the Nazi party's salute, Horst was struck in the face by a hand in a rubber glove.

"Boy! Didn't your commandant tell you?"

"Tell me what, sir?" Horst asked. He was not one to question authority. While speaking to the officer, Horst recognized his rank: _Obersturnfuhrer_, a rank above his. He could tell this man, however older and higher in rank, was green to the field.

"Do _not_ salute or come to attention in in the presence of an officer! Russian snipers like to look for officers. In fact, all snipers do. _You_ of all people should know that." The man was right. Horst was a sniper in the Waffen SS. "Now, what I was going to tell you is that you are to be joining me and my crew on a mission."

"Just me, sir?" Horst replied hoarsely. He was dying for a drink of water, but the only liquids around were oil and blood. Horst was sure as heck not going to drink those.

"No, you and your squad are to assist me and my crew in a quick guerilla warfare style attack, then withdraw. Got it, boy?"

"_Ja_," Horst replied.

"Good. Gather your squad, tell them the mission and then meet me in my tank." With that, the officer was gone.

Horst did just that. On the way to the tank, a shot rang out. Everyone hit the deck and took aim with their respective weapons. As Horst looked through his scope, he began moving it. The cross hair landed on the tank commander. He was slumped over but was shaking relatively.

"Itzhak!" The young sergeant crawled up to Horst. "I want you and your squad to shoot anything that moves, got it? I'm going to check out the commander," Horst commanded.

"Yes sir!" Itzhak told the others the orders and gave his commander a clear. Quietly, Horst moved over to the tank and took a look at he officer.

". . . Sir?" Horst pulled the commander's body closer and saw why he slumped. A quite highly skilled Soviet marksman had shot the commander right between the eyes, an amazing feat for any sniper. Machine guns started rattling, and the German boy looked up and saw what his men were firing at. Three squads of Russian infantry just emerged from the woods and started a firefight. The body of the tank commander was thrown out suddenly, and a startled Horst looked inside the tank. The others in the tank had pushed their commander's body out. Horst jumped inside the tank for quick protection against small arms fire. "Well, good morning, men." Horst turned his head to the periscope used to sight targets for the tank. Looking in it, a gleam of metal caught his eye. He moved the scope and saw a Red Army T-34 tank turning it's turret toward him. "T-34s! Get out!" Horst grabbed his rifle, jumped out of the tank and sprinted to his men to get ammo.

"What?" An unsuspecting German popped out of the tank only to see three tanks fire at him and ultimately kill him and the crew.

Horst looked on in horror. A King Tiger tank, Germany's strongest tank and Horst's men last hope, had just been obliterated.

"Sir! Sir! . . .Sir?" One of Horst's men was shaking Itzhak to the point where one could not recognize him.

"Get out of here, men! Fall back! Out here there is no cover at all, so get your butts back to Berlin!"

"Yes sir! Heil Hitler!" They yelled as they ran back to the capital.

"Sir?" The private was still shaking Itzhak. Horst turned around to see how the battle was going, and he saw a Soviet squad flank one of his only 3 MG42s. Looking a bit more to the right, he saw Itzhak. Abruptly, Horst stopped and began sprinting to his friend.

"Go on ahead of me! I'll catch up!" He yelled to his men. _BZOO . . . BOOM!_ A shell came in, apparently Horst was the target. But the young German ran on, oblivious to the shells landing next to him. As he neared Itzhak the shells began landing ahead of him.

"Sir!" The private yelled.

"I'm coming, Itz —" Horst was cut off by a shell. _BZOO . . . BAM! _The position where Itzhak previously was exploded, with Horst only 10 feet away. The impact of the shell threw Horst into the sky, and he landed in an abandoned foxhole. The scope was knocked off of his Mauser 98K Carbine, and Horst was unconscious.


	2. Baptism of Fire

**Outskirts of Berlin, Germany  
April 2nd, 1945  
12:34 AM**

Horst woke up, feeling himself shaking. As he opened his eyes he saw his men, and he was apparently in a half-track.

"Morning, Cap. How ya feeling?" One of his men asked.

"Ugh . . . Where are we?" Horst asked, rubbing his eyes and taking a seat. The soldier he was speaking to got a sullen look on his face.

". . . Retreating, sir." Horst looked around, and saw everyone had a grim look on their face. Horst then tried to comfort them with the fact that Germany wasn't beaten yet. Long story short, it didn't work.

"Oh!" Horst jumped up as he remembered what was in his pack. Everyone watched in wonder as their commander pulled out a civilian radio and some chocolate. There were "give me some"s and "wow"s Horst smiled as he handed them out and turned on his radio. Hitler was making a speech about how the Russians worst defeat would take place in Berlin. It would be his last speech before his death.

**Berlin, Germany  
April 2nd, 1945  
09:56 AM**

"T-34! GET OUT!"

Due to that yell Horst panicked. Grabbing his rifle, he sneaked a peek at the armored killer over the dashboard. The turret was turning toward him from the other side of the tank. Working quickly, Horst slung his rifle over his shoulder and took the MG 42 off of the Sdkfz 251 half-track he was riding in.

"Hey, Edmund, get over here, and take this blasted machine gun!" Horst called to his now second in command sergeant. Edmund ran up to Horst with two other men and took the gun. All of them ran as quickly as they could from the half-track. "There!" Horst pointed toward a three story bombed out building and headed for it. _BZOO . . . BOOM! _

"_Gott in Himmel!_" Edmund cried as the front door of the building was blocked. The Soviet artillery had knocked wood and stone in front of the doorway. "Take cover in a foxhole, men! Now!" Edmund cried. He jumped in a shell hole with the two other men and set up his machine gun. Horst did as well, waiting for the impending Russian advance. All grew quiet. Breathing heavily, Horst opened the bolt to his rifle to make sure he still had ammunition. He had a full clip so he closed the bolt and looked around. He saw one of his favorite and best men, Sedlack. What he saw was his head. It was separated from the rest of his body with a look of horror on his face. Horst couldn't stand the sight. He threw up right there in his foxhole.

"Oh god . . . I've got to get away from that! That can't happen to me! No . . . that won't happen to me." Horst got up and ran to another foxhole. He sat down and felt something under him. He picked it up. It was Sedlack's arm. Horst almost barfed again. Then, more artillery. He heard a Russian yelling.

"_Comrades! We will take Berlin for the Soviet Union and for your glorious motherland! Get ready!_"

_Here they come!_ Horst thought, taking aim with his rifle and throwing Sedlack's arm away.

Smoke grenades popped in front of Horst.

"ARRRRGGGHHH!" The Russians came at the four boys, firing their PPSH-43 sub-machine guns and Mosin-Nagant rifles. Edmund opened up with the MG42, one of his men shooting a Sturm Gewher 1944, the Storm Rifle. One was helping Edmund feed the bullets into the MG42. Horst got one Russian in his sight, and fired. The 8mm bullet whizzed through the air, finding its way into the enemy soldier's forehead.

_One communist down_, Horst thought, opening the bolt on his rifle to let the shell loose and push another bullet into the barrel. He fired another two shots at the Soviets and then slid down the rubble so he could dodge the bullets. Looking back, he saw Edmund was the target of most of the Russian fire. Horst looked up and shot one more communist in the chest. The Russians were getting close. Horst reached down and pulled his bayonet from its sheath. He stuck it on the end of his gun."Wait . . . where did that tank go?" Suddenly he heard a tank engine. He looked up and saw the tank advancing. "Crap!" Horst ducked from fire and looked up once more. Suddenly a Russian charged him with a bayonet fixed on the end of his rifle. Horst fell back and got ready with his rifle. The Russian jumped in Horst's foxhole. Horst discovered that he was out of ammo.


	3. Survival

**Berlin, Germany**

**April 2nd, 1945**

**10:07 AM**

With a loud cry, the Russian lunged his rifle toward Horst. Human instincts took over at that point, and Horst rose up his rifle sideways. The bayonet went through the stock of the rifle quickly. Luckily for Horst, it stopped inches from his face.Horst quickly retaliated and kicked the Russian in the chest as hard as he could; the bayonet came out easily. The impact of the boot had knocked Horst's opponent to the other side of the foxhole. Horst kicked himself from his spot and rammed the opposing infantryman with the stock of his gun. He kept hitting him untill his face was unrecognizable. But by that time the stock had shattered into pieces. He sat back, gasping for air. He regained composure and looked over at Edward.

"Cover me!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. Edward said something to his men; they all started a deadly crossfire with just enough room for Horst to slip by into their foxhole. He did so, dropping his rifle as well. He slid easily behind Edward, then tapped him and pointed to a building behind them. Edward nodded, and told one of his men to go with his commander. Horst took out his Walther P38, made sure it was loaded, and took off with his partner. Behind him, Horst heard MG42 fire intensify, to cover his retreat to a sniping location. When they got there, Horst heard a pinging sound, and thought '_A Garand? The Americans are lending weapons to the Communists?_' He turned around to see what it was, and saw his partner lying dead on the ground. The bullet went through the weak spot on the German helmet, where the pot and ear cover connects. Horst examined the entry hole. "That's tiny...I thought Soviet weapons did more damage than that?" He looked at the exit hole, and was surprised. They had more than met his standards. The exit hole was large enough to stick a ration can through. Horst sighed, and picked up his rifle. "Hmm...Gewher 43, with scope. Not bad for a kid."

Horst took his position up high in the five story building. He moved one of the desks near a window, but a little bit back. He took a knee, placed his rifle on the desk so enemy spotters couldn't see a rifle barrel, and aimed down his scope. He had a pretty good field of fire. Peeking out of the window diagonal to him, he could see Edward still alive(unlike both their partners), however, he was firing on one particular thing that Horst couldn't see. He leaned over and followed the tracers. They were hitting something big. With wide eyes, Horst switched positions and looked down at the beast with his sniper rifle. It was moving right toward Edward, and wasn't going to stop. Horst took carful aim at the machine-gun firing at Edward.

"Here's my ode to tank crew wisdom..." He said, pulling the trigger. his 7.92mm bullet hit the air-cooled gun at it's weakest point. The barrel shattered into pieces, one part of the metal blocking the barrel so it could no longer fire. However, the gunner was still firing when the barrel broke. So a round hit the metal, stopped, and another round hit that one. The machine-gun blew up, the fire causing the long belt of ammo to explode also. Screaming could be heard from inside the T-34, signaling that the crew was burning to death inside. One man opened the hatch to the tank to try to get out. Horst already had his scope trained on the hatch, as he predicted this. He shot the man, the bullet makeing a clean in and out wound. A wound like that could easily be treated, had it not been a headshot. The resistance stopped after the tank was disabled. Mostly because the tank was a sixty-ton roadblock, but it stopped nonetheless.

Edward stood up, slinging the MP44 his comrade was carrying before he died around his shoulder. Picking up the MG42, he started walking back to the German field HQ which was a mile back. Just as he was about to look toward Horst, a shot rang out among the silence. Slowly, Edward sank to his knees. He fell face first in the rubble.

"Horst...Avenge me...I'll see you in hell buddy." And with that, he died on the cold hard streets of Berlin.

Tears and sweat mixed in his eyes, and Horst looked on for the sniper that shot Edward. A glint of a scope was spotted by Horst. He aimed his rifle at one of the church towers, but when he could see the sniper with his low powered scope, Horst was already in the Russian's sights.


	4. Turning Point

Berlin, Germany

April 2nd, 1945

10:23 AM

The Russian pulled the trigger on his Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle, sending the messenger of death Horst's way. What the sniper didn't count on was wind. The shot was blown off course enough to go through the wall next to Horst. He immediately ran downstairs. He decided he had two choices, 1. would be to go back upstairs and risk getting shot to kill that sniper, or 2. wait until nightfall then fall back to the ammo dump a quarter mile back and get a better gun, and things like that. He chose the latter. Searching around the house he was in, he found that there was only one way out and that was the way he'd come in. Being careful to avoid windows, he chose a lofty couch cushion to sit in. There he wait, until night.

Berlin, Germany

April 2nd, 1945

11:36 PM

"Alright...It's dark enough...I'm going now." Horst said as he popped his head out the doorway. It was a full moon and there were very little clouds so he'd have a puny chance to run down the roadway. With only seconds of cloud coverage, Horst sprinted to a load of crates and empty beer kegs. He looked back at the path, it curved slightly about twenty meters or so down the road so he wouldn't be seen. Peeking over the crates at the enemy church tower, he looked down a little and realized that the tank he'd disabled was gone. He heard a low rumble, and identified it as a truck. He took off his helmet and stuck it on the crates, also sprinting toward the enclosed alley way about ten feet back from there. The truck was a German supply truck, with Communist symbols painted on the sides.

Looking through his scope at the driver of the truck, What an idiot! he thought. The driver was drinking beer, or vodka, or something, and had a light on in the drivers seat! Shaking his head, Horst put the cross hairs on the driver. He could hear the Russian troops singing in the back. Horst wanted to cause some trouble, so he waited until the driver took a swig from the drink of his. He shot, making the bottle explode. The driver was killed by the bullet, but the exploding bottle set the drapes around the truck on fire. The truck crashed into the wall, and screaming Russians jumped out of the back, most of which had been set ablaze. Horst shot the ones not on fire, and let the remaining ones burn to death.

Horst moved along the road quickly, and quietly. He saw the ammunition depot up ahead. He sprinted toward it, smiling along the way. Horst neared the depot; the men at it turned to face him.

"Hey guys! I need more...ammo..." Horst slowed to a stop, the men ahead of him turned around and unslung their rifles. Horst dropped his rifle, and began to move backward. A rifle shot rung out, skimming Horst's ear.

"Gah!" He cried out in pain,"Damn!" Horst swung around and took off, the image of those men still flashing in his head, their bolt-action rifles, their pistols, and most of all, their field caps that had a red star on them. One word hung in his mind: "Communists."


	5. One shot, one kill

**Berlin, Germany**

**April 2nd, 1945**

**11:48 PM**

Horst knew that he was dead if he didn't get out of there. An opera of rifle fire rang out in the night. Horst wasn't trained much, but he saw a war film where one of the men went in a zig-zag pattern to avoid bullets. So thats what he did. Luckily, all of the Russians had bolt-action rifles and hadn't searched the depot enough to know the machine-pistols were in the boxes. The Russian's fiddled with their rifles to get the bolts done. Horst ran into an alleyway, took out his Walther P38, and peeked around the corner. One of the Russians ran out to get his sniper rifle. Horst shot him. The men scattered, not wanting to get killed. Horst poked out from the corner and shot into the tiny mob of infantry before him. He quickly ran out of ammunition, and ran into the alley to reload. Just as he cocked his gun, he heard footsteps and voices. He looked around the other side of the alley and saw two Russians running toward him. Luckily, Horst was in the shadows. He began to take aim, but saw they were both carrying PPSh-41 sub-machineguns so he decided against it. They were a good ways away, but Horst had nowhere to hide. He looked down and saw a manhole. _Classic. _He thought. He took the cover off and descended into the darkness, being sure to put the cover over the hole. Just as he got down, he heard boots clank over the hole cover.

Horst sat in the darkness, reminiscing about his life. He remembered when he got his first toy train. When he joined the _Heer_, the army. As well as when he wandered into Foy while trying to find his unit. Ah, yes. Foy. It was all coming back now...

_Horst looked down at the town of Foy. He was in the Church tower, he had his sniper rifle ready in case of any American commandos. He heard a rifle shot, and saw muzzle flash in a house. He pulled up his scope to where the shot was aimed: about a thousand yards away. Two of the three men fell to the ground, splattering brains all over the man next to them. Another shot rang out toward that same position and ricocheted off the wall. The ricochet knocked out the remaining man as he was cocking his rifle. Horst watched the house intently, but nothing happend. He began to look around when he spotted movement. He looked down his scope but it was too dark for the scope to work on that position.. There were two Americans running toward the tower. Horst got ready with his rifle, as the were approaching a light. Suddenly, the one on point fell in the tunnels under the city. _

_"Damn..." Horst muttered under his breath. He had been able to see the first man falling down, but the second was still in the shadows. Horst tried to take the scope off his rifle to hit the man still standig. He heard a few shots go off; the second man had slipped and fired a few shots before jumping down the hole. Horst knew there were two entrances to the hole. He called up seven men and told them to go take the tarp off the tunnel. By the time he had finished his orders, there were many gun sounds coming from below the town. Horst watched the point where his men took off the tarm and saw one of them fall, full of holes. He saw a grenade fly up and the men scatter. The shrapnel killed most of the men, but some were only wounded. Horst saw that there was no way for them to live, so he shot the remaining three. _

_After he reloaded his weapon, he watched the spot where the tunnel ended. The two Americans emerged from the tunnel; Horst took careful aim. He shot the man holding a sub-machinegun through the back of the head and as he was cocking his weapon the first American ran into a house. _

_"This guys a good shot...I better be careful...If not I'll be dead in a matter of seconds." Horst undid the bolt on his gun and inserted one more round, as to have a full clip. He put the bolt forward, just as he saw movement in one of the houses. He aimed at the house and sure enough, there was a gun barrel sticking out. Horst wasn't sure where the American's head was, so he just aimed where he thought it was. But the American's gun was pointed at him too. One rifle shot rang out, and one body fell. When Horst found the American's body, the dog tag said "Keith". There was a hole where Keith's eye used to be, and the rear sight of his rifle, which was a small circle, had been enlarged._

"That was a DAMN good shot...I'm lucky." Horst said. He heard Russian voices up above and crept slowly down the tunnel...


End file.
